The Astros can no longer be called Major League Baseball's reigning champs.

Former Astros Alex Cora, J.D. Martinez and Steve Pearce hoisted a World Series trophy on Sunday at Dodger Stadium, echoing the Astros' 2017 title celebration in the Los Angeles night.

There was another connection to be found a layer below the surface.

The rebuilt Astros have made the playoffs three times in the last four years under manager A.J. Hinch, who holds a 374-274 regular-season record with the local nine and has captured back-to-back American League West titles. The two times they made the postseason but fell short of a world title? The Astros were knocked out of the playoffs by the club that eventually won it all.

Of course, there's no consolation in that fact. But it's a much better life than being the Dodgers, who have spent way too much cash to lose back-to-back World Series on their home field. It's also a reminder of just how difficult it is to win a world championship in this era, and why almost two decades have passed since baseball's last repeat champ.

Hinch's 103-win club was the second best in MLB this season. They won Game 1 of the American League Championship Series at Fenway Park. And had they advanced to the final stage, they would have clearly been favorites against the Dodgers.

As disappointing as the Astros' 4-1 ALCS defeat was – captured by three consecutive losses at Minute Maid Park – the reality is that they simply lost to baseball's best team in 2018; a historic club that totaled 119 regular-season and playoff victories.

Hinch's Astros ran into the same unbreakable wall in 2015, when they made the playoffs for the first time in a decade. They held a surprising 2-1 lead in the AL Division Series against Kansas City and were on the verge of advancing to the championship series at a roaring Minute Maid. Instead, the never-say-die Royals roared back to life with just six outs left in Game 4.

Like this year's ALCS, the Astros were the toughest test that Kansas City faced in 2015. The Royals won that ALDS 3-2, then took down the Toronto Blue Jays in the championship series before beating the New York Mets 4-1 in the World Series.

This is a pivotal offseason for the Astros, who will be tested by free agency for the first time since they started winning under Hinch.

They were three wins away from returning to the World Series this season. And as they enter November, they are already listed as co-favorites (with the Red Sox, of course) for the 2019 world title.

When Hinch's teams haven't lifted a trophy, they've fallen to the clubs that nobody else in baseball could beat.

Brian T. Smith is a sports columnist for the Houston Chronicle. He has won multiple Associated Press Sports Editors awards and been honored by numerous journalism organizations. Smith was a Houston Texans beat writer for the Chronicle from 2013-15 and an Astros beat writer from 2012-13. The New Orleans-area native previously covered the NBA's Utah Jazz (The Salt Lake Tribune) and Portland Trail Blazers (The Columbian), among other beats. He is the author of the book Liftoff, which documented the Astros' rebuild and 2017 World Series championship.